Ordinance could be ready next month; would forbid loitering near schools, playgrounds

Peachtree City officials are crafting a law aimed at further protecting children from sexual predators.
The ordinance, which is being drafted by City Attorney Ted Meeker, would forbid any convicted sex offender from loitering at or near area schools and other places where children congregate.

Currently, state law mandates that sex offenders cannot live within 1,000 feet of such areas. But that does not protect children who walk or ride their bikes to school, Mayor Steve Brown noted last week.

Brown noted that the police department recently arrested a sex offender near a playground after determining he hadn’t registered locally as a sex offender once he moved here.

The ordinance would call for special signage to denote the protected areas, but offenders would not be forbidden from driving through, walking by or otherwise passing through those areas, Brown said.

People who prey on youths look for vulnerable children, so the best course of action is to keep them away from kids, Brown added.

Meeker said he planned to have the ordinance ready for council consideration next month.

“I think it’s great,” said City Councilman Steve Rapson. “It would close the loophole.”

In other business, council voted unanimously for a resolution encouraging the General Assembly to increase the sex offender protection zones from 1,000 feet to 2,500.

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